Abstract

The growing population of part-time doctoral students has created a need for research into the determining factors for part-time doctoral student success, especially related to retention and program completion. In order to gain a better understanding of the current literature and its importance, the researchers used purposive sampling and thematic analysis to compile emerging factors from over 20 recent articles. Three themes materialized: the growing part-time student population; the differing needs of part-time versus full-time students; and the need for specialized student support resources for part-timers. This article explains the analysis and present findings that indicate that the socialization process is particularly important for part-timers and is a key tool for student retention in doctoral programs.

Disciplines

Education | Educational Administration and Supervision | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Educational Leadership

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